»»---Echo---««

Chapter 7 - Blasters

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My cell door popped open at 0700 hours, almost like clockwork. The halls were relatively empty with only a few technicians and cadets crossing through the halls as I made my way to the lab.

I must have been too caught up in my own thoughts, because my shoulder crashed into a girl with bright blonde hair crossing the hall.

"I'm so sorry," I said quietly.

She laughed, "Not your fault, really should have looked before crossing the hall."

I bent down and picked up the dropped book she had been carrying.

"Thanks," she said, taking it back into her arms with the others, "Hey, you're the new recruit right? The one who sped through initiation?"

"I... I guess so."

"What was your name? Ella?"

"Echo."

She smiled, "Well it's nice to finally meet you, my name is Sophie. All the cadets had been talking about you, we heard you're joining our squad soon."

"I hadn't-"

"Oh, sorry. I gotta get to training. See you soon Echo!"

I waved silently as Sophie rushed off.

"Hello Echo, ready for another try?" Kat chirped as I entered, the cup with the little pill sitting on the table beside the examination chair, "We got to about 72% opening on the memory block last time. Hopefully you'll start to get some back today."

I swallowed the pill as Kat attached the electrodes to the back of my neck once again, the vibrations of the pads don't bother me as much as they used to anymore.

I felt my eyes begin to droop and I tried my best to relax into the chair.

It felt like I was sinking this time. Sinking into the chair and after a moment it felt like I had fallen. I felt air whipping around me as my body jolted trying to steady itself. Everything felt foggy, like dreams do when you remember them when you're awake, but the feeling of the air around me made me think this was very very real.

All at once, it stopped. I felt my feet standing on solid ground and I opened my eyes expecting to see the lab but instead seeing a vast forest around me. Trees stretched upwards with large orange and purple fruit hanging from its branches. The sun gave off a purple hue leaving the forest dark and I could barely see ten yards ahead of me.

I heard a rustle in the leaves behind me and a girl in a bright blue cloak darted out from behind a bush.

"Wait!"

I sprinted after her dodging trees and roots that caught onto my feet. The girl darted through the forest before entering a clearing with a large village that had been destroyed. Buildings were burnt, pages of books and ancient scrolls scattered the ground, and people laid face down on the ground in the streets.

"Teacher?" the girl called out, the only sounds heard in the village were the roaring wind and the crackle of fire, "Mother?"

Everyone wore the same bright blue robes. The girl frantically ran between the people on the ground shaking them desperately, I tried my best to keep up with her.

"Maybe I can help you," I said. I reached my hand out to try and get the girl's attention but my hand passed right through her, almost like a hologram.

I glanced around, the feeling of familiarity clouded my brain as I searched desperately for something I would know.

Then he was there.